Feeding Frenzy

It feels like '96 all over again: Hip-hop–informed producer composes sonic collages from hundreds of uncleared samples across myriad genres to much acclaim. Only this time it isn't DJ Shadow's Endtroducing ... making noise but Gregg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, and his breakthrough fourth album, Feed the Animals. Unlike Shadow, Gillis works his mash-up magic on laptops instead of decks, and Girl Talk shows aren't so much chill edutainment as riotous raves. At nearly every performance, a sold-out crowd rushes the stage, dancing madly, spraying beverages and body fluids, and nearly toppling Gillis and his gear. Feed the animals, indeed.